How else can I explain my wandering from one end of the island to another just to see scrimmages and capture mug shots -- especially with this post-nasal drip lingering for more than a month now.

I'm in Kahuku right now, a good 20-plus minutes away from watching the Red Raiders scrimmage Mililani. There are a lot of questions about both teams, along with a ton of talent. But I'll backtrack and try to remember where I've been in the past week. It's gone by so fast.

Monday, Aug. 4: Interview with Coach Randall Okimoto at Farrington.

Tuesday, Aug. 5: Photo shoot at Farrington; watch Mililani practice and interview Coach Darnell Arceneaux.

Wednesday, Aug. 6: Photo shoot at Damien; photo shoot at Kalani; interview Coach Darren Hernandez at Kapolei.

Thursday, Aug. 7: Scrimmage, Kaimuki at Waianae. I had to choose between this and a photo shoot at Waialua. I hate to miss anything, but with an assignment to write about Waianae for the Star-Bulletin Football Preseason Top 10 Countdown, it was a no-brainer.

Friday, Aug. 8: Photo shoot at Kaimuki; photo shoot at Kapolei. Because of the timing -- I long for the days when school started in September and shoots weren't compressed between 3 and 6 p.m. -- I had to forego shoots at Nanakuli and Kaiser. Augh.

That brings me to today. Leilehua had a photo shoot at 8 a.m. Talk about keeping the rank and file in order. What's always interesting about Coach Nolan Tokuda at this time of year is the way he maintains discipline. A few years back, when he was a new varsity head coach, he really had to crack the whip and raise the volume to get his players to move swiftly on photo day. (That consists of portrait shots with Burr Cox, elite photographer, and us media peons.)

Now that he's been established, Coach Tokuda doesn't have to constantly stay on top of his troops. Oh, they need a little nagging sometimes, but winning a state championship has a way of getting the soldiers' respect and attention in an instant.

I don't know how many miles I logged this week. It doesn't feel like much, especially since I spent the prior month quarantined in my own home because that nasty cold. I went nowhere, unless you count trips to Foodland and Longs Drugs as exotic expeditions. It's totally awesome to be on the road, enjoy the sights and smells of the ocean on that North Shore drive. Even driving to Waianae wasn't so bad. That water main break was on the other side of the road.

And what's the payoff for all this football? For me, it's like tossing a dried-out sponge into a tub of water. I'm just soaking it all in.

Don't you just love this damn game?

Of course, there's the Countdown. Farrington is No. 10, Mililani is No. 9, Kapolei is No. 8, and Brian McInnis writes today about No. 7 Baldwin.

Everywhere I go, players and coaches ask me who's next, who's No. 1. I'll tell them which team is next, but the No. 1 team ... that's better left as a mystery.
Besides, preseason polls are just crazy. My bosses said straight up last year that it would drum up early interest, and they were right. None of us media and coaches voting in the poll have a real clear idea of how to pick 10 teams and rank them, but we ended up with more than 20 voters.

For all the lack of information -- the voting was done before a single scrimmage had been played -- everyone has given me nothing but positive feedback.

Surprises me, but then again, Hawaii is a football-loving state.

Ten minutes until the scrimmage starts. My only regret is that I couldn't be at the Farrington-Punahou scrimmage that began 20 minutes ago.

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